CARSON, Calif. –When the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake take the field on Sunday to start the Western Conference Semifinal series, two of the finest coaches in MLS will be leading them on the sidelines.

Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena and RSL boss Jason Kreis have led their clubs to the highest point totals in MLS since they met in the 2009 MLS Cup final with the Galaxy holding a 233 to 222 advantage on Salt Lake while also winning three of the last four MLS Cup trophies.

Kreis, who took over as RSL head coach in 2007 after a successful 11-year career as a player admitted that Arena has been a source of inspiration as he’s shaped Salt Lake into one of the prominent clubs in MLS.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that Bruce is the best coach in the history of soccer in this country. I certainly have tried to pick his brain any chance I get, to ask him to gain some nuggets of knowledge along the way,” said Kreis in a media conference call on Thursday. “I think there’s no question again that he gets it right at the right time otherwise he wouldn’t have five MLS Cups to his name already.”

Meanwhile, Arena was just as quick to admit that Kreis has blossomed into one of the bright young coaches in MLS.

“I think he’s grown into a terrific coach,” said Arena. “He had to learn on the job, it took him some years to get grounded and now I think he’s real comfortable in the way he goes about and does his business and gets his teams ready. So we’ve seen consistently over the last three or four years that Salt Lake has a good team year in year out.”